Check out February’s featured resources – Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, Black History Month, and other seasonal content. We have also included links to some great new lessons!

K-2 Featured Lessons

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Valentine’s Day Sight Words

Grade(s): K, 1, 2

Subject(s): ELA

In this activity, the students will review reading and writing their sight words centered around a Valentine’s Day theme. The students will brainstorm different activities they engage in during this holiday. Next, they will practice sorting flowers into vases by the sight words written on them. They will practice reading sight words given to them in the “mail” by mail carriers. The students will trace their sight words onto “candy” hearts to create a review game.

This activity includes flashcards that are sight word flowers, vase labels, valentine mail cards, candy heart activity, progress poster, assessment handouts. a rubric, and a reflection. (There are blank resources that can be used to include additional sight words.) The words in this lesson include of, the, to, you, she, my, is, are, do and does.

Budding Biographers

Grade(s): 2

Subject(s): ELA, Social Studies

In Budding Biographers, students use their favorite famous person or a person you are studying in class to practice composing informational/explanatory text. They can write a biography about the person after researching as a class. When they finish, they can repeat the activity for another famous person.

This essential has different editions for 31 famous figures including Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, and John F. Kennedy.

Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Sentences

Grade(s): K, 1, 2

Subject(s): ELA, Social Studies

In this activity, the students will be introduced to Martin Luther King, Jr. and his accomplishments. The students will be introduced to unfairness while engaging in a whole class activity where they are segregated based on differences. Next, they will listen to a story about the life of MLK Jr. The students will discuss what they learned about MLK Jr. after listening to the story and they will create sentences about him. They will also listen to a song about MLK Jr. They will practice creating more interesting and detailed sentences about Dr. King. The students will then brainstorm different dreams they have had and how they can make the world a better place. Finally, they will practice writing and editing a sentence about their dream.

3-5 Featured Lessons

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Smart Cookies

Grade(s): 4

Subject(s): Math

In Smart Cookies, students use girl scout cookie data to practice writing rules for number sequences and tables, extending numerical patterns and finding missing numbers, converting fractions into decimals using equivalent fractions, and comparing and ordering decimals. As troop leaders, they must develop a set of incentives that align with realistic goals for their scouts.
This performance task has editions for 5 different girl scout cookies, including Thin Mints, Tagalogs, and Do-si-dos.

Person Puzzle – Harriet Tubman

Grade(s): 3, 4, 5

Subject(s): ELA, Social Studies

Bring to life the traditional practice class or homework assignment with some global competency and diversity! While your students practice working with fractions in the context of a number line, they can learn about the life of Harriet Tubman, one of the most crucial figures during slavery.

Person Puzzles are designed to highlight individuals with diverse backgrounds who have made significant contributions to our world. Our students are often underexposed and unaware of many significant (historical or current) figures and this is an easy way a math teacher can throw some interdisciplinary content without sacrificing their math!

Students enjoy Person Puzzles because they innately like figuring out these types of facts and enjoy learning about someone interesting and different! You use Person Puzzles as timed warm-ups which allow you to share a little about the person’s background before your daily lesson. You can also drop some college readiness info like majors, degrees, and careers!

American Heroes: Thomas Jefferson

Grade(s): 3, 4, 5

Subject(s): ELA, Social Studies

In this project students learn who Thomas Jefferson was and demonstrate understanding of how his life made a difference in the lives of others.

Students read Thomas Jefferson: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Everything by Maira Kalman (or another book of your choosing) and then carry out independent or partner research to learn more. They then decide on and create a product that they think would best teach others about his life and impact.

6-8 Math/Science Featured Lessons

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Cupid’s Dilemmas

Grade(s): 6, 7, 8

Subject(s): Math

Cupid needs help! His hearts are completely unorganized and he is feeling no love for his job. Students will need to find the areas of hearts by breaking them into triangles and semi-circles and recognize and calculate missing side lengths. They’ll organize Cupid’s hearts for him and send him on his way. Finally, students will follow a video to fold an origami heart and calculate its area.

Person Puzzle: Barack Obama

Grade(s): 6, 7, 8

Subject(s): Math

Bring to life the traditional practice class or homework assignment with some global competency and diversity! While your students practice determining percent change, they can learn about the life of president Barack Obama!

Person Puzzles are designed to highlight individuals with diverse backgrounds who have made significant contributions to our world. Our students are often underexposed and unaware of many significant (historical or current) figures and this is a an easy way a math teacher can throw some interdisciplinary content without sacrificing their math!

Students enjoy the person puzzles because they innately like figuring out these type of facts and enjoy learning about someone interesting and different! You use Person Puzzles as timed warm-ups which allows you to share a little about the person’s background before your daily lesson. You can also drop some college readiness info like majors, degrees and careers!

Human Organs

Grade(s): 6, 7, 8

Subject(s): ELA, Science

In this Rank & Reason, students consider the importance of the organs in the human body. They rank these according to what is the most important in order to function properly and maintain optimal survival.

This question is designed to have no right answer. Students must think critically and provide justification for their rankings. Interactive features allow students to compare their rankings with others and to the class average.

6-8 ELA/Social Studies Featured Lessons

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Popular U.S. Presidents

Grade(s): 6, 7

Subject(s): ELA, Social Studies

In this Rank & Reason, students consider various U.S. presidents. They rank them according to who they think was most popular.

This question is designed to have no right answer. Students must think critically and provide justification for their rankings. Interactive features allow students to compare their rankings with others and to the class average.

Influential Figures of the Civil Rights Movement

Grade(s): 6, 7, 8

Subject(s): ELA, Social Studies

In this Rank & Reason, students consider figures of the Civil Rights Movement. They rank these figures according to influence on the movement.

This question is designed to have no right answer. Students must think critically and provide justification for their rankings. Interactive features allow students to compare their rankings with others and to the class average.

Nurse’s Orders

Grade(s): 6

Subject(s): ELA

In Nurse’s Orders, students choose their favorite nursing field to practice narrative reading and writing in a real world context. As nurses, they have to write a narrative article for the local newspaper about a typical day in their job. They read notes from other nurses about their responsibilities in an upcoming shift then practice writing descriptive phrases about common objects required in their field. They then prepare for an interview as the Chief of Nursing before writing their “Day in the Life” narrative article. The task ends with the opportunity to develop narrative writing in several ways.

9-12 Featured Lessons

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Creating A Press Release – Romeo & Juliet

Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12

Subject(s): ELA

In this project, students write press releases about an event in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The project leads students through how to write a press release and provides examples. In understanding an event and the points of view regarding an event, students reach a deeper understanding of the characters, the time, and most importantly, the author’s intent in choosing the events of the story.

Annotating Poetry – Phenomenal Woman

Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12

Subject(s): ELA, Social Studies

Poetry can seem complicated because the form and language used are so different from the way we normally communicate. Yet, when the code of poetry is unlocked, we find that the poet has a message for the reader and this message is open to interpretation.

Unlocking a poem’s code through annotation of key words, identification of form, and making margin notes can bring a poem to life and make clearer the author’s intent and message to the reader.

This lesson will instruct students on how to annotate a poem using Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou so that they can come to a valid and supported conclusion as to what the poem means. In this lesson, students will learn to note key words, identify form, and make marginal notes (annotations) to assist in understanding the poem.

U.S. Presidents of the Early 1800s

Grade(s): 9

Subject(s): ELA, Social Studies

In this Rank & Reason, students consider U.S. presidents in the 1800s. They rank these according to who had the greatest impact.

This question is designed to have no right answer. Students must think critically and provide justification for their rankings. Interactive features allow students to compare their rankings with others and to the class average.

Person Puzzle – Oprah Winfrey

Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12

Subject(s): Math

Bring to life the traditional practice class or homework assignment with some global competency and diversity! While your students practice function operations, then they can learn about the one and only Oprah.

Person Puzzles are designed to highlight individuals with diverse backgrounds who have made significant contributions to our world. Students are often underexposed and unaware of many significant (historical or current) figures and this is a an easy way a math teacher can throw some interdisciplinary content without sacrificing their math!

Students enjoy Person Puzzles because they innately like figuring out these types of facts and enjoy learning about someone interesting and different! You use Person Puzzles as timed warm-ups which allow you to share a little about the person’s background before your daily lesson. You can also drop some college readiness info like majors, degrees, and careers!

Check out some of our newest content!

Covid-19: The Quarantine Disease

Grade(s): 6, 7, 8

Subject(s): ELA, Science

In COVID-19: The Quarantine Disease, students read and evaluate the science behind the 2020 pandemic. They’ll read a scientific article written by scientists and edited by students their age, rank the virus’s actions as it tries to survive, and finally write a Science Explainer – informative writing – for a younger audience.

This lesson includes links, a rubric, a Rank & Reason activity, writing prompts, and tips for working with students remotely.

NextLesson is proud to share and promote Frontiers for Young Minds in its mission to bring free readable and accessible science to students around current discoveries and core concepts. We especially love the student empowerment we see as Frontiers for Young Minds encourages students to be real-world science editors.

The New Immunity Challenge

Grade(s): 6, 7, 8

Subject(s): ELA, Science

In COVID-19: The New Immunity Challenge, students read and evaluate the science behind the 2020 pandemic. They’ll read a scientific article written by scientists and edited by students their age, rank the challenges of supporting our immune system, and finally write a Science Explainer – informative writing – for a younger audience.

This lesson includes links, a rubric, a Rank & Reason activity, writing prompts, and tips for working with students remotely.

NextLesson is proud to share and promote Frontiers for Young Minds in its mission to bring free readable and accessible science to students around current discoveries and core concepts. We especially love the student empowerment we see as Frontiers for Young Minds encourages students to be real-world science editors.

Be sure to check out all of our K-12 Valentine’s Day content here.

Be sure to check out all of our K-12 Presidents’ Day content here.

Be sure to check out all of our K-12 Black History Month content here.